Rays TUMBLE Down AL East Standings | Locked On Rays

Rays TUMBLE Down AL East Standings | Locked On Rays

They’re not as good as the 24 and 9. They’re not as bad as this 4 and 12, but are they the 22 in 2016? Has anything really changed? Because it really does feel like 75 to 85 is really where this team might be. Yeah, it looks like that’s the track we’re on. You are Locked on Rays, your daily Tampa Bay Rays podcast, part of the Locked On podcast network, your team every day. Welcome into Locked on Rays, your daily podcast covering everything Tampa Bay Rays. From game analysis to player interviews, we’ve got you covered with all the latest news and insights. My name is Kevin Weiss. I’m Ulysi Srano. Bringing you expert analysis and passionate discussions about our beloved race. We are here to break down every play, every trade, and every milestone. In fact, this is our seventh season covering the Rays daily. So, grab your favorite Rays gear and settle in as we discuss the Tampa Bay Rays limping to the All-Star break, licking their wounds for a couple days until they get back at it. Uh, we do have some positive news though, like Junior Camero participating in the home run derby tonight and the Rays adding a fourth all-star by the name of Drew Rasmus. That is what we have on today’s docket. Yes. But before we get to that, let’s tell you that today’s episode is brought to you by Game Time. Download the Game Time app, create an account, and use code locked on MLB for $20 off. Well, to summarize the weekend that was um not great, no bueno, all that. Yes. And we kind of saw this coming, Kev, when you’re watching Locked on Race, you might be getting a little bit uh of a foreshadowing here, Ulyses, what are your expectations for the Rays? Uh merely pulling out two of four, splitting the series, or doing more? Um, dude, I mean, can I be honest? Cuz you’re not you’re you are not high on the raise right now. I think splitting is a W. Okay. Splitting is a big big W. Um, well, you hit it on the mark there. Uh, and I guess getting swept is a big L as we learned. Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday. um three of those losses by one run. And many of those losses came in unfortunate fashion. And the Rays, believe it or not, are they’re not first in the division, second in the division, third in the division, fourth in the division at 50 and 47 because uh the Red Sox are playing their butt off right now on a 10game winning streak. And and you just saw this coming. I mean, we saw this coming on Thursday, like splitting as a big W because the team was just not playing well. And yeah, they they Yeah, they won one game against the Athletics. Yeah, they won one game against the Twins. Yeah, they won one games against the the Tigers, but this team was hot. It was good. They were uh exhilarating with uh their their lineup. I mean, Raphaela is just basically Barry Bonds right now in the ninth spot. And you know, getting Breman back, everything was good for the Boston Red Sox. everything was not going that well for for the Rays and it was just the perfect combination. So I I felt it. I know you felt it being a four game. Let’s just get out of there with a split and and and and that would be victorious. But no. And when you look at the Rays season so far at 50 and 47, just a smidge over 500. Let’s divide this season into three chunks. Okay. The first one they go 22 and 26. So just under 500 a middle team. The second chunk we love this one. 24-9. My goodness. They cannot do anything wrong. This is 2023 vibes. This is 2021 vibes. This is amazing. This team is going to the World Series. Third one. From June 27th on, they’re 4 and 12. They’re not as good as the 26 the the 24 and n they’re not as bad as this 4 and 12 but are they the 22 and 2016 because you have enough sample size here Kevin that we have to decide were we really that off when we started this season saying this is a team that if everything goes wrong they go 75 wins and if everything goes right 85 86 wins at the most. Has anything really changed? Because it really does feel like 75 to 85 is really where this team might be. Yeah, it looks like that’s the track we’re on, especially if Brandon Laauo is hurt and doesn’t return to his former self. And I mean, it seems like Hassan Kim, he gets in for a game, he gets a hit or home run, then he gets hurt. So, like, it’s we can’t win in that situation or scenario. And you know, probably not an appropriate topic for today. Uh maybe later on this week or if we have Evan Klossky on um we really should have some sort of conversation or barometer as to what are the race plans at the trade deadline. Is it holding forth, keeping things as is? Or they see Eric Neanderin company sees this team as more of that first chunk and third chunk and say, “All right, let’s save some payroll. Brandon Laauo, you’re on the clock. Yandi Diaz, you’re on the clock. You are available to be traded.” Not even. It’s unfortunate to talk about that, but uh that you know if if you’re if you’re only three games over 500 and who knows what’s going to happen out of the All-Star break. I mean, there’s still time. Yeah, you you would hope and believe that they’re rested and recuperated and recovered and ready to go back at it. But um I don’t think there’s any doubt that the amount of road games and the road trips are starting to take a little bit of a toll in wear and tear. Not to mention, you’re playing in the uh heaty conditions of Stein Brener Field and you got a lot lot of young players on the roster as well. What what’s just so unfortunate about it all is like I mean it it’d be it’d suck to lose any game either way, but several if not all these games were within reach and winnable, especially Friday when you have a 4-1 lead like that. And the Red Sox were looking terrible early on the game with pass balls and errors and so on and so forth. And to give that up and and again, I know the the Red Sox are rolling. They they won six games in a row against the Rockies in nationals. And you got a guy like Raphaela who looks like the second coming of Barry Bonds. And you got Roman Anthony who’s 21 years old and is on like a 10-ame winning streak. And you got Garrett Crochet who uh complete games the Rays on exactly 100 pitches. Um you know, I mean I I don’t think it’s too farfetched. Like I think the standings it’s pretty much lined up with how these teams are right now. the Red Sox. I’ I’d go to bat for them right now. I mean, that’s what we were saying in in in the beginning of the season, though, didn’t we? We were like, we like this Red Sox team. Now, they’re showing it up. We were like, oh, this team, this race team is 75 to 85. They’re kind of showing that’s what they really are. And you said something at at the beginning of that that I think we need to understand. You know, I if if this team keeps slipping with you’ve got four series before the deadline, Baltimore at home, White Socks at home, you cannot let those go. Then you got a rest day, then you go to Cincinnati for three, and then you go to New York for four. Cannot slip there. No. So, but it if you do then it’s not only Brennan Laauo and Yanni Diaz who are going to be getting offers, but it’s also Tash Bradley apparently from Bob Nightingale saying that he he’s been um kind of shopped around or at least they’re they’re they’re receiving information um offers from him. So, like this team is at the cusp of what do we do? And if you’re meandering company right now, I want you to put it on the comments right now. Do you go all in 50 and 47 knowing the three different chunks that we’ve seen of this team? 22 and 20 and 26, 24 and 9, and then four and 12. Do you go chips all in? Because I do not. I don’t. I I don’t I I hear offers and and and hopefully enough that convinces me that 2026 can be a really good year, but for 2025, I don’t think you you you right now you can push all the chips in. No, it might be where yeah, you might add you might grab another reliever, but you’re trading an all-star or a couple allstars to boot to make up for it or to to change the equation a little bit. And just one more note on the Red Sox. I think one of the the shrewdest additions was getting Araldis Chapman because Araldis Chapman might win the reliever of the year. I’m sure he’s won it time and time before, but um he he has found the fountain of youth evidently at 35 36 years old. And that just makes it more tough as we saw in the series against the Red Sox where you’re not playing with 27 outs, you’re playing with 24 outs. Yeah. And and and he’s been that guy for over a decade and it’s very difficult. So that’s what we were talking about. Get that bullpen to feel that way and and that’s not really the the way that we’ve been feeling about the bullpen for most of the season. Really? No, not at all. All right, we have more to discuss. We’ll change gears a little bit. Uh but first, we have to tell the audience something very important that is next on the Lockdown Race podcast, part of the Lockdown Podcast Network, your team every day. Have you ever decided at the last minute to head to a ball game with friends or family? I know Kevin and I have you want to see your race and you can do that by using game time because you can save so much money on the tickets and that extra money you save you can splurge it on food, drinks, merch, whatever you want. You should know Game Time is the official ticketing partner of Locked on MLB and that makes it super easy to browse the app for an exciting upcoming MLB game. For example, the Athletics are coming. Why not see a game or two? Because the Rays will be playing a lot of away games. So, don’t wait today. Take the guesswork out of buying tickets with Game Time. Download the Game Time app. Create an account and use code locked on MLB for $20 off. Again, create an account and redeem code len MLB for $20 off. Download the Game Time app today. Last minute tickets, lowest price guaranteed. All right, Ulyses, before we move on to some other topics, uh anything from the weekend that you want to make note of or shed light on, be it uh base running mistakes, seriously pitching performances and so on. Yeah, I I guess uh good things uh Baz and Bradley and Pepio pretty good. Boil nice. Rasm mustustin, I mean, you guys did their job. I mean, you they did their job. I don’t have anything to to badly about to say about that that the the the rotation or anything like that, but I will say the running mistakes were by by Randa and Simpson can’t do it, man. Can’t do it. I understand that we’re going to have to see these mistakes, right? uh maybe not so much well for for Aranda is a different uh why we’re going to see them. It’s because he’s not very fleet of foot. He’s slow. So you’re going to see those things from Aronda. You’re going to see them and he’s an all-star but every guy has has his flaws. That’s his flaw. He’s not very fleet of foot. So you’re going to see that and you’re going to see them more times fans. You’re going to see it more times. So be ready for that. Be conscious of that. And with Simpson, you’re going to see these mistakes because he’s young, cuz he is new to the league. And because those those innocent moments are always going to happen, especially if you’re young and not running through home plate. Yes, I know some of you are screaming at the screen saying like, “We learned that in little league.” Bro, try doing that in Fenway with two outs and 40,000 people screaming at you. It’s a little bit different than playing against, you know, 12 year olds in your little league team on a dirt field with parents sitting on lawn chairs. Yeah. Different. So, yeah. But you’re going to you’re going to learn from that hopefully. And that’s the last time that Chandler Simpson does that. Just all with your speed, bro. No need to slow down at any he can get away with a lot with his speed. But sometimes maybe the the gumption can get to him a little bit where um he thinks he can do wrong or just, you know, a rookie mistake that that’s going to happen with each and everybody. Junior Camro has made rookie mistakes even as good as he’s been with his 23 homers and um some of his defensive plays as well have actually stepped up. some of the the diving stops and the throws and um it there’s been some impressive moments from that perspective. Uh I also want to note you have a stat here. Uh the Rays who I don’t know if it’s fair to say historically, but we have seen years where they’ve been really good in one games. This year has not necessarily been the case. They are 13 and 18 in one-run games. And I think uh probably a lot of that goes to some of the youth and inexperience, but also the bullpen just blowing that lead. Yeah. And and and 19 blown leads um Oh boy. for the Rays this year. Now that’s middle of the pack, but still like you should you’re if you’re a team constructed like the Rays are pitching in defense and playing close games, 19 blown leads is way too many. And having a 13 and 18 record in one run games just is not going to get you there because you’re not a juggernaut. And I know some people are now screaming saying one run games is a flip of the coin. It’s a flip of the coin. It’s Well, then don’t play the game. Right. Exactly. If it’s a flip of the coin, don’t play the game. I mean, I I would go on to argue I mean, we would have to do some sort of analysis or statistical surveying for this, but I would imagine teams that are really good do really well in run games. I mean, I think that’s just baseball goes. Um they may not have as many one-run games if they’re, you know, a high-scoring offense and they’re winning by two, three, four, five, six runs, but I would imagine that in a majority of the one-run games, they are taking care of business. But in the specificity of how this Rays team is going to win games, they’re always going to be playing close games because of their pitching and because of their defense. So, this cannot happen. this 13 and 18 one-run games. That tells me that this team is closer to a 7580 win team than to an 8590 win team. Uh all right, let’s move on. Uh all-star home run derby talk. First off, Junior Camero will star in tonight’s home run derby. And uh he seems to be all for it all game. He has done some quote unquote practice sessions. He has sought the advice of Tioscar Hernandez. He uh has I believe it’s Tomas Francisco in his corner. Uh working on throwing pitches to him in the right way. He’s got a whole game plan of hey I’m just going to utilize my normal swing. I understand I have to make a lot of swings and I have to be very judicious about how I go about that. Um and if he wins uh he would be according to the interwebs the youngest player to win the derby. And of course, uh, am I correct in saying he’d be the first Rays player derby? Um, the other participants were Carlos Pñena, Randy Rosarena, and Evan Longori. And then of course after the home run derby, he will be starting in the All-Star game. But with all this in mind, Ulisses, uh I guess what I know we discussed this a little bit last week, but how bullish are you on Junior Camroero being able to take the crown in the home run derby? And I would imagine the he he would still take home a big chunk of change if that happens, right? Yeah, I think he would. Uh look, I I think he the first time I heard him talking about the home run derby was like a couple months back in an interview. um with the Dominican uh Republic um press. Um I think it was Mike Rodriguez or somebody Jel Puh, somebody like that. Yeah. Um and he was all about it. He’s like, I really hope they call on me. That was like two months ago. Like he wants it. He he knows he’s good at it. And we’ve seen the type of power that he has. I have no doubt that he is going to put on a show. It just can he get on a rhythm, right? If he gets in a rhythm, forget about it. I think he can take any of these guys on easy. But Francisco needs to find that zone, right? That rhythm of pace between swing and next swing to really get in a groove. And I believe they’ve practiced around two to three times already before the derby. So hopefully that that can help him. But I I have no doubt with this talent that he could possibly win this and I’m hopeful he he he does. Uh meanwhile, Mark Topkin wrote an article, basically a profile piece on Junior Camero and why he’s a rising star and why he’s been so successful this year. And some of the buzzwords that have come out about that from Ray’s staff, coaches, and fellow players are work ethic, takes advice, wants to improve, has charisma, and wants to be a team leader. Uh he’s also um taken the advice not only from uh staffers and coaches, but also well-known former players like Albert Pulse, for example. So, it seems like he is doing all the right things uh to be the best player that he can become and obviously he’s chock full of talent as well. And to me, um assuming that all those buzzwords are correct, uh that would appear to be a guy that you’d want to invest in in a long-term contract extension. The issue with that is um obviously there’s still the fallout from Wander Franco and the ownership forthcoming ownership transition and change whenever that date happens. But uh Junior with being an all-star, being a home run derby participant, having 23 home runs uh before the Allar break or at the All-Star break, uh the price has gone up, not to mention all the other guys that are getting, you know, massive contract extensions and so on. So, um, he could be a player that just wants to play at the ring, allstar starter like that that now made it a little bit more expensive. So, yeah, the the more you you wave with these guys and and and their talent, it’s going to be a little bit more difficult for a team like the Rays to do it, but this is us being really nice to raise ownership really because obviously they can afford it. Of course, they can. They’re all in every MLB team can afford a type of contract like this. I mean we we all fall into the trap of like well can they re yes they can they all okay how about this if if it’s a situation where we will do it only if we trade and this is totally hypothetical of course sure we we can only make it work or we say we can only make it work if we trade Yandi Diaz and Brandon Laauo and maybe someone else by the all-star break in order to get Camro locked up. Would you do that? Yeah. Okay, we’re playing for the future. We’re at 50 and 47 right now. We We can’t We can’t have super high expectations despite the 249 stretch. Maybe perhaps with um it with with Brandon Laauo and and and Yanni Diaz out in a very good stats position right now. Maybe the return can be some valuable pieces that are not high A or double A, but they’re like triple A almost ready to contribute. Yeah. And and now you surround Junior with auxiliary pieces that are young and ready to, you know, have a nice little three, four uh run window. So like might not be a bad idea. I know it’s hypothetically completely, but yeah. And and the trade-off of the trade-off of that too is um of course, at least for the time being, Junior wouldn’t have as much support around him in the lineup and opposing teams can just say, “Hey, we’re circling this guy and we’re not going to pitch to him because he’s, you know, the not the only threat, but the main threat that we have to contend with there.” Um, we also want to note this. Uh, we didn’t have a chance to mention it because the news broke late, but just want to congratulate Drew Rasmusen on being added to the American League All-Star squad, becoming the Rays fourth All-Star this year. What was my prediction before the season that the Rays would have five five? You were close. Got pretty close. Um, they there was definitely a fifth player, I think, somewhere in the ether that that could have been deserving. Uh, just needed one more guy to back out or get injured or something for that to happen. But, uh, Res Men replaces Usay Kikuchi on the roster. uh he is expected to work in inning and um it’s just great for I mean everybody to be named an all-star but especially a guy like Russ Mson who has gone through it with the three elbow surgeries and you know based on the quotes it just seems like he is really appreciative and will remember the moment and the honor forever um even if he didn’t get to pitch in the All-Star game. I think just being added to the roster and being able to participate in the festivities would have been good enough for him. But he’s a guy like I mean it’s possible that this is the only time that he will be an all-star. Um, even though he has surprising, not surprisingly, but I think there is a really cool stat that since debuting with the Rays on May 21st, 2001, his 275 RA is second, actually second in the majors among pitchers with at least 305 innings behind only Max Freed, who is at 264. Correct. Now, I know, you know, Max Freed probably has a lot more innings than 305. Um, so, you know, had to pick the the innings limit there somewhere. But it just goes to show you that when he is healthy and available, he’s extremely dominant. So, yeah, and we’ve seen that it’s it’s it’s kind of like put it on the board. Five innings, one earn run uh with with with Drew. And it’s very welld deserved. We thought he should get it. Um, before that this voting came out, we were like, hey, if it’s a pitcher, it has to be Drew. And if it’s a hit, it has to be Jonathan. And boom, lo and behold, Brandon Low and Junior Camero came away with nominations as well. But it was going to be a very odd year just like BA and Andy were saying during the weekend uh that the Rays get three allstars and they’re all hitters and none of them would be pitchers. It’s not very Rays like. So, um obviously a very well-deserved nomination for for Druin. Hopefully, we get to see him pitch. Obviously, we’re not going to see Brennan Laauo hit u with his stint, but we’ll see him around there in the dugout and hopefully and Junior starting at third base. Jonathan is probably going to be the the the first uh switch at first base. And then if you get a an inning out of Drew, that’s a pretty good raise representation for 2025. And and that should make us all really happy. It’s a reason to watch both the home run derby and the All-Star game if if at the very least it’s to see uh the guys in your laundry the the the guys of that wear the laundry that you root for. Exactly. So, um all right, there it is. Hope you all enjoyed. Hopefully the Rays can recover and get back to winning ball games because that is certainly needed post Allstar Break. Uh we have some fun shows later on this week. going to try to get a guest or two mixed in there as well. But in the meantime, thank you for making the Locked on Race podcast your first listen today. For your second listen, check out the allnew Locked on MLB Game Night. Every game, every night, all season long analysis brought to you on a national scale. You can find MLB Game Night on Locked on MLB on the YouTubes or wherever you listen to those podcasts.

Tampa Bay Rays stumble into All-Star break. Can they recapture early-season magic?
Ulises Sambrano and Kevin Weiss break down the Rays’ recent struggles, including a disappointing series against the Boston Red Sox. They analyze the team’s rollercoaster season, from a middling start to a strong middle period and recent slump.
The hosts explore potential trade scenarios involving Brandon Lowe and Yandy Diaz, while highlighting Junior Caminero’s Home Run Derby appearance and Drew Rasmussen’s surprise All-Star selection.
Tune in for expert insights on the Rays’ playoff chances and the impact of their young stars’ performances.

5:07 Rays struggling heading into All-Star break
11:14 Analyzing Rays’ recent performance and mistakes
16:43 Junior Caminero in Home Run Derby preview
21:37 Drew Rasmussen added as fourth Rays All-Star

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